Pakistan PM hails airstrike against APS attack mastermind

KABUL (Pajhwok): President Ashraf Ghani has informed Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the killing five hardcore terrorists, including Omer Khurasani, the mastermind of the Army Public School (APS) massacre in Peshawar, a media report said on Sunday.

“APS massacre was a great tragedy for Pakistan and the world and the perpetrators got the ultimate response,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s House quoted the Afghan president as saying in a phone call to Sharif.

Ghani also inquired after the prime minister, who underwent an open heart surgery last month in London, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.
The prime minister thanked the Afghan president for the elimination of TTP terrorists responsible for the APS tragedy.

He said that Pakistan was fighting against terrorism and was fully committed to eliminating the last terrorist from its soil. While doing so, Pakistan’s security forces had given unequalled sacrifices, he added.

“I will lead the campaign to eliminate every terrorist from my country. Terrorism is a common threat to both countries and must be eliminated through better coordination,” the prime minister stressed.

Earlier, Ambassador Dr. Omar Zakhilwal wrote on his Facebook page that President Ghani ordered the July 9 airstrike on Khalifa Omar Mansour, alias Khalid Khurasani, after Afghan forces detected his location.

The ambassador said the Afghan forces shared their information about the Taliban’s Tariq Gidar group leader with American forces in Afghanistan. They subsequently launched the drone strike.

He said Omar was killed along with seven fighters in the strike. “The killing of Khalifa Mansour proves that Afghanistan is not using terrorists for its interests but targets them without any differentiation.”